Aiming Device and Method for Guns

ABSTRACT

An aiming device for guns, which comprises a transparent plate that shows to the user a critical image when the plate has a predetermined orientation, and shows a deformed image when said plate has any other different orientation. The transparent plate is so mounted in the device and the device is so mounted on the gun, such that the critical image is seen by the user when and only when the axis of the gun barrel is parallel to the line of sight passing through the user&#39;s eye and the center of the transparent plate.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/579,996, now allowed, filed on Feb. 21, 2007, which is acontinuation-in-part application of published international patentapplication number PCT/IL2005/000486, filed on May 9, 2005, which claimspriority to Israeli patent application number 161911, filed on May 10,2004.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to devices for aiming hand-held guns, such aspistols and revolvers, and in general fire arms, including short rangerifles. The devices of the invention permit particularly quick andaccurate aiming of the fire arm and substantially eliminate subjectiveaiming errors. The invention also comprises a corresponding aimingmethod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fire arms, particularly and-held fire arms are conventionally aimed byaligning a front sight with a rear sight and pointing the front sight tothe target point. The term “short range”, as used herein, includesranges which are up to about 30 m for pistols and about 50 m for othertypes of firearms. By “target” is meant the object or person that theshooter intends to hit, and by “target point” is meant the point of thetarget at which the shooter aims the projectile.

Generally the projectiles may hit any point within an area about thetarget point, but if the shooting is good, said area will be limited.When the front and the rear sight are aligned, they define a line thatwill be called “the aim line”, and when said aim line passes through theshooter's aiming eye, the axis of the fire arm barrel should be directedto the target point.

The conventional system of aiming involves certain inherent errors: a)the aim line is spaced by a few millimeters from the barrel axis,whereby the point of impact of the projectile, assuming that there areno other errors, will be equally spaced from the point at which theshooter aimed (this may be called “the parallax error”; b) an attemptedcompensation of the resulting error by structuring the sights so as toslant the aim line slightly towards to the barrel axis, is effectiveonly if the target is located at the distance at which the aim line andthe barrel axis meet, and if it is not, said error will remain and mayeven be increased; c) the fire arm's sights mask, to some extent, thetarget; d) gun users that are not too experienced require some time toaim by aligning the two sights; e) the alignment of the sights is notobjective and its accuracy depends on the skill of the gun user.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,315 B1 discloses and claims an aiming apparatuswhich comprises a first and a second lenticular element, orthogonal toone another, both mounted on the barrel of the gun, wherein the firstlenticular element receives a first image when the shooter's aiming eyeis in proper alignment with said barrel in elevation and a second imagewhen the shooter's aiming eye is not in proper alignment in elevation,and the second lenticular element receives a third image when theshooter's aiming eye is in proper alignment with said barrel in azimuthand a fourth image when the shooter's aiming eye is not in properalignment in azimuth. The first and third image are of a first matchingcolor, typically green, and second and fourth image are of a secondmatching color, typically red. Said apparatus is not fully satisfactory,firstly because it comprises two lenticular elements and is thereforesomewhat complicated and costly; secondly, because its user has to relyon the accurate perception of colors that may not be quite distinctiveto him and anyway are not easy to distinguish in dark or sharply coloredenvironments; and thirdly, because it requires the user to correct thealignment of the gun barrel by moving it in two orthogonal directions,elevation and azimuth, a requirement which slows down the aiming andrenders it uncertain, since a correction in elevation may be accompaniedby a displacement in azimuth, and vice versa.

Co-pending patent application No. 155993, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference, describes and claims an aiming devicefor short range guns, which comprises an aiming sight for directing theaim to the target, mounted on the barrel near its forward end, and anangle indicator, for signaling when the aim line is at a predeterminedangle, preferably parallel, to the axis of the gun barrel. The angleindicator, which typically comprises two like elements symmetricallypositioned about the aiming sight, comprises one or more figures lyingon a plane that makes a given angle to the gun barrel axis and somemeans for determining when the aim line passing from the gun user's eyeand the aiming sight makes said given angle to the plane of said figure,or forms with said plane a predetermined, compensation angle. Typically,said figures lie on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the gun barreland acquire a distinctive appearance when viewed along an aim lineperpendicular to said plane.

The said co-pending application also describes and claims an aimingmethod for short range guns provided with said aiming device, whereinthe gun user firstly brings the tip of the aiming sight in theappropriate position with respect to the target point, which can becalled a coarse aiming step, and thereafter completes the aiming by gunto by bringing the aim line to a predetermined angle to the axis of thegun barrel while keeping the aiming sight in the said appropriateposition, which can be called a fine aiming step.

Types of images or figures forming part of the angle indicator includefigures, preferably colored, and which may be transparent, which lookdeformed in some way from a basic shape when seen at an angle; imageswhich change according to the angle under which they are seen, e.g. bychanging color or showing or hiding predetermined shapes or details; andcomposite figures, including at least two parts of different colors,wherein one part is seen as larger and the other as smaller, dependingon the angle at which the figure is seen.

While the aiming device of said co-pending application constitutes animportant improvement over the prior art, it still comprises twocomponents—the aiming sight and the angle indicator—and requires twoaiming steps—a coarse and a fine one. Because of this, on the one hand,the aiming is not as easy and immediate as might be desired, andsubjective errors are not completely eliminated.

It is therefore a purpose of this invention to provide an aiming devicefor guns, particularly, but not exclusively, short range hand-held guns,for instance pistols and revolvers, that is extremely simple andreliable.

It is another purpose to provide such an aiming device which consists ofa single structural element.

It is a further purpose to provide such an aiming device whichsubstantially eliminates subjective errors.

It is a still further purpose to provide such an aiming device whichdoes not define nor require two displacements in two directions torender the aiming line parallel to the gun barrel axis.

It is a still further purpose to provide an aiming method which permitsvery accurate aiming with extreme rapidity.

It is a still further purpose to provide an aiming method which iscompleted in a single step.

It is a still further purpose to provide an aiming method which does notrequire to establish an optical correlation between different structuralelement, but only requires the observation of a single element.

Other purposes and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an aiming device for guns, such asrifles, firearms, toy guns, PaintBall guns and any gun that is intendedto shoot a real, dummy or virtual projectile of any shape to a target.

The aiming device comprises one or more transparent plates, which showsto a person aiming the gun (hereinafter, “the user” or “the shooter”) animage that has a critical optical appearance (hereinafter, “the criticalimage”) when a plane associated with said plate has a predeterminedorientation, and shows a different image (hereinafter, “the deformedimage”) when said plate has any other different orientation; whereinsaid transparent plate is so mounted in said indicator and saidindicator is so mounted on the gun to be aimed that said critical imageis seen by the user when and only when the axis of the gun barrel isparallel to the line of sight passing through the user's eye and thecenter of said transparent plate.

The term “plate”, as used herein, does not necessarily mean a planarelement. The plate may be curved, e.g. a cylindrical or tubular element.The “plane associated with said plate” may be defined in any way, e.g.may be the plane tangent to the center of the plate or the plane onwhich lies the periphery of the plate. Hereinafter, for brevity's sake,the plate will be assumed to be planar, but no limitation is intended bythis, and what is said about the plate will be applicable, if said plateis not planar, to said plane associated with said plate. In thefollowing description and claims, the term “plate” will be used, forbrevity's sake, to include, where appropriate, the plane associated withthe plate.

The aiming device will generally comprise, in addition to thetransparent plate, a support for said plate, through which the plate ismounted on the gun with the appropriate orientation. The transparentplate, whether planar or not, is preferably, though not necessarily,circular, and in that case, said support is ring-like or comprises aring-like frame portion.

Preferably, the structure of the plate support, the way in which theplate is mounted therein, and the way in which said support is mountedon the gun, generally but not necessarily on the gun barrel, are suchthe plate is perpendicular to the axis of the gun barrel, and the imageshown by the plate to the user is the critical image when the line ofsight from the user's eye to said image is perpendicular to said plate.Therefore, when the user sees the critical image, he knows that the gunbarrel is parallel to his line of sight, and if his line of sight passesthrough the target point, the gun is properly aimed.

The one or more transparent plates is preferably provided with—

-   -   i. an image projection source;    -   ii. light exit means, through which a user views an image        projected from said image projection source and configured with        a major axis dimension essentially equal to that of said image        projection source; and    -   iii. a characteristic length between said image projection        source and said light exit means.

A critical image appears in said light exit means when said plate has apredetermined orientation such that the axis of the gun barrel isparallel to the line of sight passing through an eye of the user and acenter of said light entry means, and a deformed image appearing in saidlight exit means when said plate has an orientation other than saidpredetermined orientation and the object projected from said imageprojection source is partially obstructed by a wall of, or enclosing,said one or more transparent plates.

Said major axis dimension and said characteristic length define apredetermined transition sharpness from said deformed image to saidcritical image, the relative location of said deformed image withrespect to said light exit means being indicative of the direction ofdeviation of the line of sight from the gun barrel axis.

The aiming method, when the aiming device of the invention is used, is asingle step one. The user points the gun in such a way that he sees thecritical image and the target point at the center of the transparentplate. In preferred embodiments, the critical image covers the entiresurface of the transparent plate, and therefore the center of thetransparent plate is also the center of the critical image. Since boththe plate and the image are small, having, if circular, a diameter from3 to 10 mm and preferably from 4 to 6 mm, accurately placing the targetpoint at their center is very easy. Of course, it is also possible tomark the center of the plate by an insert, or by a preferably black dot,or by other marks examples of which will be given hereinafter.

The invention, therefore, also includes an aiming method which consistsin generating the critical image and bringing the target point to thecenter of said image.

The aiming method preferably comprises the following steps:

-   -   a) providing one or more curvilinear transparent plates        supported by a gun barrel, said one or more transparent plates        having—        -   i. an image projection source;        -   ii. light exit means through which a user views an image            projected from said image projection source and configured            with a major axis dimension essentially equal to that of            said image projection source; and        -   iii. a characteristic length between said image projection            source and said light exit means;    -   b) aiming the gun at a selected target so that an image of at        least a portion of said selected target is visible in said light        exit means, a critical image appearing in said light exit means        when said plate has a predetermined orientation such that the        axis of the gun barrel is parallel to the line of sight passing        through an eye of the user and a center of said image projection        source, and a deformed image appearing in said light exit means        when said plate has an orientation other than said predetermined        orientation and the object projected from said image projection        source is partially obstructed by a wall of, or enclosing, said        or more transparent plates; and    -   c) if said visible image is a distorted image, changing the        orientation of said one or more plates by displacing said barrel        in a direction parallel to a line passing through said distorted        image and a center of said light exit means until said critical        image appears in said light exit means,    -   wherein said major axis length and said characteristic length        define a transition sharpness from said deformed image to said        critical image.

Examples of colored materials that can be used in a transparent plate ofthe invention are, for instance: phosphorus materials, fluorescentmaterials organic or biological luminous materials (such as luminousmaterials produced by insects, e.g., fireflies, by underwater creatures,or by plants), radioactive luminous materials, e.g., Tritium (see U.S.Pat. No. 5,359,800, U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,519, and night sights made byTrijicon Inc., Farmington Hills, Mich., U.S.A.), and lenticular indiciasets (described, for example, in “Lenticular Imaging, Part I”, ScreenGraphics, September/October 1999, pp 37-42 and in “Lenticular Imaging,Part II”, Screen Graphics, January/February 2000, pp 30-35, in“Lenticular Imaging, Part III”, Screen Graphics, March/April 2000, pp30-36). It should be understood, however, that in the broad definitionof the invention, are comprised the passage of the image shown by thetransparent plate from a colorless to a colored condition or vice versa,and therefore, in this invention, the term “color” may comprise thecolorless state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B schematically illustrate the conventional aiming devicesand procedure;

FIG. 2A is a schematic perspective illustration of an embodiment of theinvention in the aiming of a gun shown as a pistol, but which my be arevolver, a rifle or any other gun; and FIGS. 2B and 2C are verticalviews from the rear of the transparent plate of said gun, wherein inFIG. 2B the gun is properly aimed and in FIG. 2C the gun is not properlyaimed;

FIGS. 3A to 3D show various different embodiments of the transparentplate according to embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic cross sectional view of one embodiment ofan aiming device which comprises a single light collecting rod;

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic and perspective cross sectional view ofone embodiment of an aiming device which comprises a plurality of lightcollecting rods;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the aiming device of FIG. 5, illustrating acritical image generated thereby; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an aiming devicewhich comprises a prism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 schematically shows in perspective view a conventional prior artaiming device and method. A hand-held gun 10 is represented as a pistol.Numeral 18 generally indicates the eye of the gun user. It is well knownthat even if a shooter aims with both eyes, his brain selects one eye asthe aiming one and therefore it is permitted in this description torefer to the shooter's eye in singular. The aiming device comprises afront sight 11 and a rear sight 12. Numeral 16 symbolically indicates atarget, wherein 14 is the target point. The aim line of sight 15 passesfrom the shooter's eye 18 through sights 11 and 12, and, when the gun isaimed, impacts on the target point 14. Actually, as has been said, anexperienced shooter will correct for the distance between the linepassing through sights 11 and 12 and the gun barrel axis, and thereforehe will so aim that the aim line 15 impacts the target slightly abovethe target point 14. Of course, the actual trajectory of the projectilecurves downwards, because of the gravity effect, and therefore, if theresulting deviation of the projectile from the aim line 15 issignificant, an experienced shooter will know it and will correct forit, this correction being sometimes more substantial than that requiredby the distance between the aim line and the gun barrel axis. Thiscorrection is illustrated in FIG. 1B.

In both of the prior art cases of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the physicalarrangement of the front and rear sights is familiar to all skilledpersons and need not be described. In general, the rear sight isfork-shaped and the front sight is brought, when aiming, to the centralpart of the fork and ideally in the middle, for lateral aiming, and atthe same height as the rear sight, for vertical aiming.

FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate a first embodiment of the invention. Thetarget is again indicated at 16, the target point at 14, and the gunuser's aiming eye at 18, as they will be in the following figures. Thegun is illustrated as a pistol 30, but this embodiment of the invention,like all embodiments of the invention, is equally applicable to allkinds of, particularly but not exclusively short range hand-held guns,including in particular short-range rifles. Gun 30 is provided with anaiming device 31. No rear sight is provided.

A preferred embodiment of the aiming device is shown in FIG. 2B, inwhich said device is shown as the user sees it when correctly aiming thegun, viz. is seen in vertical view from the rear. Numeral 32 indicates atransparent plate, which in this embodiment is planar and round. Theplate is seen as colored and to represent this it is shown as gray inthe drawing, but in reality it may have any chosen color, for instancered or blue, said color being preferably pale not to interfere with aclear view of the target. 33 is the target point, and it is seen at thecenter of the transparent plate. 34 indicates a support in which plate32 is mounted, which support or frame is mounted on the gun barrel, ofwhich only a broken off portion 35 is shown in the drawings. The support34 in this embodiment comprises a round central frame 36 and is sostructured that it holds the plate 32 perpendicular to the gun barrelaxis. Therefore in the position shown in FIG. 2B the gun barrel axis isparallel to the line of sight from the user's eye to the target point.

The aiming device 31 is shown in FIG. 2C as it appears to the user whenthe gun is not correctly aimed. It is seen that colored shape 37, whichmay be called the “deformed shape”, which has the same color as in FIG.2B and is equally shown in the drawing as gray, does not occupy thewhole round area of transparent plate 32 but only a portion of it, andtherefore the gun barrel axis is not parallel to the line of sight fromthe user's eye to the target point and the gun is not correctly aimed.The user will shift the gun until the situation of FIG. 2B is produced.

The deformed shape is shown in FIG. 2C as being oval and set at one sideof the transparent plate. However, this is only an example and thedeformed shape may have any form and size, and be set at any zone of thetransparent plate, as long as it is easily, and preferably immediately,recognizable by the user. Generally, it would be sufficient, to renderit recognizable, that it should cover only a part of the transparentplate as seen, for example, in FIG. 2C. Any deformed shape, therefore,is included in this invention.

In FIGS. 2B and 2C the user judges when the target point is seen at thecenter of the transparent plate. This is easy, since said plate has asmall size. However, it is possible within the scope of the invention tomark precisely or approximately the center of the plate. FIGS. 3A to D,which are vertical views like FIGS. 2B and 2C, show various ways ofmarking said center.

In FIG. 3A the center 40 of the transparent plate is indicated by amark, which in this example is a dot, generally as black dot. In FIG. 3Ba FIG. 41, similar to a conventional front sight, indicates said centerby its tip 42. In FIG. 3C two arrows 43-44 are aligned with said centerand leave only a small space between them, said center being located insaid small space. In FIG. 3D a very small circle 45 is marked, thecenter 40 of the transparent plate being the center of said circle.Other ways to facilitate the identification of the center of thetransparent plate can easily be devised by skilled persons.

It will be apparent that, while the transparent plates that have beenillustrated are planar and round, this is not necessary. Otherstructures of transparent plates could be adopted in all embodiments ofthe invention, but they should always be such that it will be readilyapparent when the images which they show are seen properly and when theyare seen deformed. Particularly, the deformation may consist in thedisappearance or appearance of images or of portions of images. Thus, inthe examples described the transparent plate appears wholly and equallycolored when the line of sight from the user's eye to the target pointis parallel to the gun barrel axis, and only partly colored when saidline of sight is not so parallel, but the opposite could be true, viz. atotal or partial coloration might be generally seen by the user anddisappear only when the line of sight from the user's eye to the targetpoint is parallel to the gun barrel axis. Further, the deformation ofthe images seen by the user looking at the transparent plate couldconsist in partial or total changes of color. Generally, whatever suchdeformation, it is sufficient that it should be easily, and preferablyimmediately, recognizable by the user. The optical art provides manypossibilities and varieties of such changes, and all of them arecomprised in the scope of the invention. For instance, means are knownfor printing figures which change their color or their apparent shape,or show or hide various geometrical figures, or become translucent, orshow a network of lines, and so on. Any one of these optical means canbe used in carrying out the invention. It should be understood that theterm “image”, as used herein, does not imply figures having a meaning orrepresenting definite objects, but includes any shape of any kindwhatsoever, including meaningless and convoluted shapes. Various kinds,shapes and sizes of support could also be used. For example, the elementthat is shown as a circular frame 36 in FIG. 2B could be cylindrical andof significant length to exclude any optical interference from theoutside with the transparent plate, or, on the contrary, could be verythin and even reduced to a small number of circumferential points. Itmight also be such as to permit the substitution of the transparentplate, since different transparent plates might be preferable underdifferent environmental conditions, or the plate might become damagedand have to be replaced.

The transparent plate may also be implemented as a combination of an airlayer and a circular object, e.g., a dye layer. Such combination can beinserted into a narrow through bore, formed in the support, so thatanyone looking through it will only see an object that is comprised in asmall area around the axis of the bore. In a preferred embodiment, thebore may be circular and the object which is to be seen through it bealso circular and with the same diameter as the bore. The relationbetween the bore depth and the bore diameter determines the sharpness ofthe transition from a desired orientation with no deformation of thecritical image to an undesired orientation with a deformed image.

In order to allow the shooter seeing the image clearly, the dye layermay be an illuminating layer (e.g., a phosphorous material), having adistal wall that is sufficiently immersed in the bore, such that saiddistal wall is actually the distal wall of the support and is exposed toambient light when the shooter aims the firearm. During the short timeperiod until shooting, the illuminating layer absorbs ambient light andthe dye layer can be well seen by the shooter, both during daytime andnighttime. More illumination toward the shooter's eye can be obtained byusing a bore with reflecting walls.

The dye layer may also be self illuminating, by using, for example,electric light source or Tritium.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which thelight source of the transparent plate is a light collecting rod 55. Asshown, aiming device 46 comprises tubular plate 45, lens 48, sleeve 50,and light collecting rod 55. Sleeve 50 made of solid transparentmaterial such as Perspex is insertable within, and removable from, thehollow interior of tubular plate 45 within which is mounted lens 48.Plate 45 is attached to the gun barrel in such a way that the axis ofplate 45 is parallel to the axis of the gun barrel. Sleeve 50 has ashoulder 53 the outer diameter of which is substantially equal to, orslightly greater than, the inner diameter D of plate 45, and thereforesleeve 50 may be attached to plate 45 by a press fit. Light collectingrod 55, which is adapted to collect ambient light transmitted throughthe solid transparent material of sleeve 50 and may generate coloredlight, is positioned within a bore substantially coinciding with thelongitudinal axis of both plate 45 and sleeve 50. The proximal end ofshoulder 53, i.e. the end closer to the annular light exit 43 of plate45, is formed with a recessed portion 51 through which the lightcollected by rod 55 propagates to lens 48. It will be appreciated thatthe proximal end of shoulder 53 may also be made of solid transparentmaterial. Lens 48 serving as the image projection element is positionedat a distance F from the proximal end 57 of rod 55, which issubstantially equal to the focal length of lens 48, and is positioned ata characteristic distance L from the light exit 43 of plate 45 which isgreater than twice the focal length F of lens 48. Thus the lightprojected from light collecting rod 55 will appear, due to the influenceof lens 48, as a critical image occupying the entire bore of plate 45when the axis of the barrel is parallel to the line of sight. However,when the axis of the barrel is not parallel to the line of sight, thelight collecting rod 55 will be partially obstructed by the inner wallof plate 45 and a deformed image will appear at light exit 43.

Since tubular plate 45 is small, the gun supporting tubular plate 45 maybe quickly and accurately aimed at a selected target by displacing thegun barrel until the selected target surrounds plate 45 and the criticalimage, which may be colored, appears throughout the bore of light exit43. If a deformed image appears in light exit 43, the orientation ofplate 45 is changed by slightly displacing the gun barrel until thecritical image suddenly appears essentially throughout light exit 43. Apredetermined sensitivity transition sharpness from a deformed image toa critical image, or vice versa, may be set by varying diameter D ofplate 45 and/or characteristic distance L between lens 48 and light exit43 of plate 45.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate another embodiment of the invention adapted toprovide increased sensitivity, or transition sharpness from a deformedimage to a critical image. Aiming device 56 comprises tubular plate 45and a plurality of light collecting rods serving as the light source,e.g. three rods 55A-C as illustrated, protruding proximally from thedistal end 59 of plate 45. Rods 55A-C are attached to inner wall 49 ofplate 45 in such a way that the angular distance between each adjacentrod is substantially equal. Thus a user views a critical image of allthree rods 55A-C at proximal end 43 of plate 45 serving as the lightexit means when the axis of barrel 45 is parallel to the line of sight.However, when the axis of plate 45 is not parallel to the line of sight,a deformed image appears and one or more of the rods ceases to becomevisible to the user. The relative location of the one or more of therods that ceases to become visible is indicative of the direction ofdeviation of the line of sight from the gun barrel axis. The sensitivityof the aiming device is also dependent upon the diameter of plate 45 andthe distance between proximal end 43 of plate 45 and proximal end 61 ofrods 55A-C. A predetermined sensitivity may be set by varying thediameter of plate 45 and/or the distance between proximal end 43 ofplate 45 and proximal end 61 of rods 55A-C.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the invention which is suitablefor guns having a short barrel. In this embodiment, aiming device 66comprises two connected tubular plates 67 and 68, and prism 72. Thelength of plates 67 and 68 is substantially equal. Lower plate 67 isattached to barrel 64 of gun 69, and plates 67 and 68 are oriented insuch a way that their axis is parallel to the axis of gun barrel 64.Prism 72 may be attached to barrel 64, or alternatively may be attachedto the distal end of plates 67 and 68. Prism 72 may be a Porro prism, ora combination of prism elements, which is adapted to reflect the lightthat entered lower plate 67 by 180 degrees. Thus image 75, whether acritical image or a deformed image, appears at proximal end 78 of upperplate 68 as reflected image 75′. Due to the light reflection of 180degrees, plates 67 and 68 function as a light transmission system havinga combined characteristic length twice as long as the length of each ofplates 67 and 68, and therefore the sensitivity of aiming device 66 isincreased.

While embodiments of the invention have been described by way ofillustration, it will be apparent that the invention can be carried intopractice by persons skilled in the art with many modifications, forexample, implementing the aiming device proposed by the presentinvention for guns that are not firearms, such at toy guns, PaintBallguns and any gun that is intended to shoot a real, dummy or virtualprojectile of any shape to a target, variations and adaptations, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of theclaims.

1. Aiming device for guns for rapid and accurate aiming withoutsubjective errors, comprising a cylindrical frame supported by a gunbarrel, and a curvilinear transparent plate mounted in said frame so asto be held perpendicular to the axis of said gun barrel, wherein acritical image appears in said plate when said plate has a predeterminedorientation such that the axis of the gun barrel is parallel to the lineof sight passing through an eye of a user and a center of said plate,and a deformed image appears in said plate when said plate has anorientation other than said predetermined orientation, wherein saidplate is implemented as— i. a through bore formed in said frame of adiameter ranging from 3 to 10 mm; ii. a circular object inserted intosaid bore and viewable by a user when aiming, said object being insertedaround the axis of said bore; and iii. an air layer defining a boredepth to said object, wherein a critical image and a deformed image ofsaid object are appearable in said bore, wherein said bore diameter andsaid bore depth define a predetermined transition sharpness from saiddeformed image to said critical image or from said critical image tosaid deformed image.
 2. Aiming device according to claim 1, wherein acylindrical plate longitudinal axis is substantially parallel to the gunbarrel axis.
 3. Aiming device according to claim 1, wherein the objectis configured with a diameter essentially equal to that of the borediameter.
 4. Aiming device according to claim 1, wherein the object is adye layer.
 5. Aiming device according to claim 4, wherein the dye layeris an illuminating layer exposed to ambient light.
 6. Aiming deviceaccording to claim 5, wherein the bore has reflecting walls.
 7. Aimingdevice according to claim 5, wherein the dye layer has a distal wallthat is a frame distal wall.
 8. Aiming device according to claim 5,wherein the dye layer is a self-illuminating layer.
 9. Aiming deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the bore has a diameter from 4 to 6 mm.10. Aiming device according to claim 1, wherein the transition betweenthe critical image and the deformed image results in partial or totalchanges of color.
 11. Aiming device according to claim 1, wherein thegun is selected from the group consisting of: toy guns; PaintBall guns;and A gun that is intended to shoot a real, dummy or virtual projectileof any shape to a target.
 12. Aiming device according to claim 11,wherein the gun is a hand-held gun.
 13. Aiming device according to claim12, wherein the gun is a rifle.
 14. Aiming device according to claim 4,wherein the object is made of a colored material.
 15. Aiming deviceaccording to claim 14, wherein the colored material is selected from thegroup of phosphorus materials, fluorescent materials, organic materials,biological luminous materials, and radioactive luminous materials. 16.Aiming device according to claim 15, wherein the biological luminousmaterials are materials produced by insects, by fireflies, by underwatercreatures, or by plants.
 17. Aiming device according to claim 16,wherein the radioactive luminous material is Tritium.
 18. Aiming deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein the object is a night sight or alenticular indicia set.
 19. Aiming method for guns for rapid andaccurate aiming without subjective errors, comprising the steps of: i.providing a curvilinear transparent plate mounted in a cylindrical framesupported by a gun barrel; ii. aiming the gun at a selected target, acritical image appearing when said plate has a predetermined orientationsuch that the axis of the gun barrel is parallel to the line of sightpassing through an eye of the user and a center of said plate, and adeformed image appearing in said plate when said plate has anorientation other than said predetermined orientation; and iii. if saidvisible image is a distorted image, changing the orientation of saidplate until said critical image appears, wherein said plate isimplemented as— a. a through bore formed in said frame of a diameterranging from 3 to 10 mm; b. a circular object inserted into said boreand viewable by a user when aiming, said object being inserted aroundthe axis of said bore; and c. an air layer defining a bore depth to saidobject; wherein a critical image and a deformed image of said object areappearable in said bore, wherein said bore diameter and said bore depthdefine a transition sharpness from said deformed image to said criticalimage or from said critical image to said deformed image.
 20. Aimingmethod according to claim 19, which is a single step method by which theuser aims the gun until the critical image appears substantially in theentire bore.